Journalism

RedState is Hiring Reporters

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asks for quiet while talking to reporters after the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol February 26, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ()

Bravo to RedState, which announced today it will be hiring two reporters in Washington, D.C. The more dedicated journalism in DC, the better. RedState editor Erick Erickson explaines the rationale behind expanding his site into original reporting:

There are scandals to uncover and there are outrageous stories to be outraged over, but I would submit conservatives are spending a lot more time trying to find things to be outraged over than reporting the news and basic facts online from a conservative perspective. In my ideal world, RedState would have a couple of reporters to focus on the basics and the depth.

I would like to see a reporter or two focusing on the W5+H of Capitol Hill and the White House with another who can go beyond the basics and provide the analysis of how those facts will impact conservatives, where conservatives stand, and how the ultimate policies and politics in play will affect the country. I just do not see the need to get outraged over things without first having all the facts at hand. Further, I do not see the need to get outraged over everything, when better targeting of stories that truly resonate would serve conservatives well. We do our cause more harm than good if we get outrageously outraged over every slight and grievance. Yes there is an institutional media bias against the right, but we must also honestly acknowledge that conservatives have also screamed “Wolf” a these past few years more often than there was one.

Conservatives must start telling stories, not just producing white papers and peddling daily outrage. The stories we choose to tell should have all the information we need to be informed of facts and paint a picture of those facts’ impact. RedState has a very simple mission statement: educate conservative activists, motivate them to engage, and provide tools for easy activation and empowerment. Along the way, we try to be a compass to the conservative movement, pointing to the truth north of conservatism and letting policy makers and legislators decide how far from that truth north they must deviate.